THINK is clearly a verb. We know it very well and think that we know everything about it. Well, I want to show you something rather surprising about verb THINK...

We usually say:

Verb THINK is usually a STATE VERB, which means that we do not normally use it with -ING ending (= in continuous tenses). However, when it doesn't mean 'believe or have opinion that' (Uważam, że...), but 'consider something' (zastanawiać się nad czymś / rozważać coś) we can use it in the continuous form.

I think that we have made a serious mistake.Myślę, że zrobiliśmy poważny błąd.- What are you thinking about? - I'm thinking about changing my job.- O czym myślisz?- Zastanawiam się nad zmianą pracy.

There is also a possibility of using an adjective or even a noun after verb THINK!

Let's see...Think big!(Try to achieve a lot!)Postaraj się osiągnąć jak najwięcej / więcejIf you want to make money you have to think money.Jeśli chcesz robić pieniądze, musisz myśleć o pieniądzach.So, if an adjective follows verb THINK it means that we need to think in a particular way and when there is a noun behind it- it means that we need to think about this particular thing.

Compare:

think differently = think in a different way HOW should I think? = differentlypomyśl inaczejthink different = think about or of (something) differentWHAT should I think of? = (something) differentpomyśl: inne / innyBy the way, THINK DIFFERENT was a slogan used in Apple advertising in 1997:

THINK PINK!

I have come across this funny piece from Funny Face musical where an editor explains what a magazine should be (explicit!) and then she invents the new trend: THINK PINK! Have a look:

It turns out that nowadays fashion magazines also promote THINKING PINK ;)

Adjectives have various endings. Many of them end in -IC and -ICAL, which gives students a lot of trouble. Today we will take a look at a few pairs of such adjectives and see what the difference is there between them.

CLASSIC and CLASSICAL

CLASSIC refers to a famous example of its type (odnosi się do słynnego przykładu czegoś; takiego 'klasycznego' przykładu):

She was wearing a classic black dress.Miała na sobie klasyczną małą czarną.This wine is a classic French wine.To wino jest klasycznym winem francuskim.This is a classic example of how he can behave.To jest klasyczny przykład tego jak on się potrafi zachować.

CLASSICAL refers to the culture of ancient Greece and Rome, or to European works of art or music of the so called 'classical' period in the history (odnosi się do kultury starożytnej Grecji i Rzymu lub do dzieł sztuki, bądź muzyki pochodzącej z epoki klasycyzmu):

It was very comical.To było bardzo śmieszne.I like to listen to a comical story.Lubie posłuchać śmiesznej historii.

ECONOMIC and ECONOMICAL

ECONOMIC refers to the science of economics or the economy of a country (odnosi się do ekonomii jako nauki lub do gospodarki kraju):

The government had some economic problems last year.Rząd miał pewne problemy gospodarcze w zeszłym roku.We do not have a good economic policy.Nie mamy dobrej polityki gospodarczej.My brother is an economic analyst.Mój brat jest analitykiem ekonomicznym.

ECONOMICAL means money-saving (oznacza 'oszczędny', 'ekonomiczny'):

This car is less economical than ours.Ten samochód jest mniej ekonomiczny niż nasz.Getting around by bus is most economical.Poruszanie się autobusem jest najbardziej ekonomiczne.

ELECTRIC and ELECTRICAL

ELECTRIC is used with the names of particular machines that work by electricity (jest używane do opisania maszyn zasilanych energia elektryczną):

Their devotion to each other is amazing. (Ich wzajemne przywiązanie jest niesamowite.)The reason why she is so hard-working is her devotion to arts. (Powodem dla którego ona jest taka pracowita jest jej umiłowanie sztuki.)

I want to show you a way of recording vocabulary that you have problems remembering. Recording new words in such a way of course has pros and cons, which I will discuss below, however, it can prove very helpful to some of you.

What do you need?

Basically, not much. You need to prepare a template in MS Word, print it out and fill it in every time you find a word which is very difficult to remember. Or - make such a table in your notebook.

Who is it for?

It's good for almost all learners, however, the visual ones will appreciate it most. It's a good way of remembering some words which we always tend to forget.

What are the pros?

To fill in the information in the table we need to devote some time to a particular word, which helps us remember it.

The table includes a lot of information, so we learn more than one word.

It's very neat and clear!

What are the cons?

Time, time, time... Preparing such notes is time-consuming... However, it's still worth it!